JPP

Well, the '65 is finally finished and delivered one day prior to the annual 912 Rendevous meet. Just for reference, here's the thread I posted awhile back about the restoration process:
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ferrerid=66492
After a quick (4 hour) cleanup Friday, we made the first drive the 3 miles to the show. Of course, the only road there was under construction, just paved, loose gravel/tar etc., so a long SLOOOOW 3 miles and after we got to the show, some more cleanup ..

Here's some pic's at the show, please excuse the crappy cel phone shots as in the push confusion we all forgot to bring a camera. My lessons learned list is growing ...

Cars start to arrive to the show. There were over 50 cars there and 5 early painted dash cars in a row ...! This is a Peoples Choice show, so cars are judged in group by model year and a single car for each year is selected for award.



My car is the second car in, the Bahama Yellow car to my left is one of the nicest 'preservation class' cars I've ever seen:


The scrutiny begins ...



And the results are in .... 'Best of Class 1965' ..


Have to say, the folks that make up the 912 Registry are, for the most part, down to earth enthusiasts that love their cars and drive the c*ap out of them. Many of the cars in the show were driven up from L.A. and several came from out of state, as far away as New York. Over 3/4's of the cars were driven in the autocross event the next morning that was co-sponsored by PCA Redwood region and the best time of the day, against all other cars including 911's, 964's, 993's, a Turbo 997 and a couple of track setup Lotus' was clocked in by a '68 912 driven by a 22 year old kid that "just loves to drive" ....

So, later that evening, I drove the car on it's first "big" drive since being taken completely apart and re-assembled, down from the show in Healdsburg back home to Petaluma and, of course, half way through the drive, the engine lid 'popped' open at 70 mph ...

Finally, Helmut (Mut for short), gets to come home and meet his roommates, Gunter and Hildergärd ...


..and tries to break the ice right away. Of course, Gunter's good with it and waves his tail back ...


Hilde's a little nervous at first, Mut being an older man and all, but she finally gives a small wave to the 'new guy' ..


Later, she confessed to me that at first, she didn't think she would like a new stablemate, but now that they've met, she thinks Mut is very nice and really likes the way his Grey livery goes along with her Grey interior ...



When I caught them outside, together after a little roadwork (Hilde's trying to reset her OBDII codes for a smog test next week after her battery was disconnected, and Mut needs to log 900 miles on his 'break in' oil ...) I could see what Hilde was saying. They make a handsome couple, no? I know it's early but I can see little Red and Grey softwindow Targas with RS fender flares running around here. I guess we need to have 'The Conversation' soon ...

JimGinKC

looks great! congrats on the trophy

JPP

Thanks, Jim.

SMehder

I also have a 912, and I can say your's look great. It is rare to find a 65 painted dash, especially in that condition. Also really glad to hear that the 912 took top honors at the autocross. Our 912's are looked down by so many people. I guess they just don't understand the balance of the car outweighs the horsepower and turbos of the others.

JPP

All that crap started at Porsche. When the 912 was introduced, the factory did extensive track testing to figure out how to 'slow down' the well balanced car, so they kept rotating torsion bars and spring plates and raising the cars ride height until it was so unbalanced it couldn't compete with the new 911's being road tested by the press. My car is sitting at 'Factory' ride height at 27" from the ground to the fender edges front and rear. I'll be getting it lowered to 911 spec in the next two weeks which will bring it down to 25" in front and 24 1/2" in back which was the original spec for the 912 as well (that's right, they are supposed to have negative rake ...).

MUSSBERGER

Holy smokes I just saw the thread on the resto. Holy smokes. Oops I already said that.

911URGE

Thanks for saving another 912. She looks fantastic.

JPP

Thanks Stephen. It seems that the tide is finally turning for these misunderstood and significant pieces of Porsche history ...

Kahdmus

Posted in your other thread (hadn't seen this one) Your 912 is absolutely STUNNING!!!

HRTex

I was subscribed to this thread and just saw that it was resurrected for some compliments, so I thought I would chime in.

JPP, this post along with your other post may be my 2 favorite threads of the hundreds I've read on this board.

I have a 996 so I am far removed from the air-cooled crowd (though one day I hope to be a member of that world), but these 2 posts are simply fantastic. Thank you not only for 'saving' such a wonderful example of the marque, but also for taking so many wonderful photos along the way and sharing the experience with us. To be able to see the project from start to finish, including the humorous homecoming, is just so very... cool.

Tell Helmut to keep his lid on and that he has a fan in Texas.

-Hugh


PS - I also was envious that his first major outing was to Healdsburg, one of my favorite places on earth.

JPP

Thanks again, Kahdmus..

Thanks for the kind words, Hugh, really glad you like the car and the posts. I have a very active imagination and I'm never really sure how some of my posts will come across, but I think most people enjoy them and it's great to get the feedback.
A 912 is a great way to 'break in' to the aircooled world because good drivers are still relatively affordable and the 912 Registry club is a 'no ego, no holds barred' type of club that REALLY encourages it's members to get out there and enjoy their cars. I met several owners/couples from Texas at the Roundup in Healdsburg that had driven their cars there, went on all the driving tours out to the coast, wineries, redwoods and then got up early Saturday morning and drove in the Autocross as well! Really a great group of down-to-earth enthusiasts that just love the cars. That's what drew me in when I was 17 and keeps me getting up in the morning 40 years later ...

Just a quick update on the car. Since taking delivery, some problems have made themselves known and as a result, some of the car's restoration is being re-done by S-Car-Go (mechanical) and Whitman's (body) in San Rafael. The engine is being completely torn down and rebuilt with the extremely well engineered ShastaDesign 1720cc/86mm pistons/cylinders set, http://shastadesign.net/pistonandcylinders.php, the case is being split and line bored, cam replaced and the heads rebuilt with new valves and guides. The P/C's are designed to 'slip fit' into the stock heads requiring no oversize machining so you get a nice boost in horsepower and torque with the reliability, sound and appearance of the stock motor. Whitmans is taking care of the 'overlooked' area's on the body and undercarriage and in a few weeks, 'Mut' should be back on the road.
In the meantime, I sourced a date-correct (yes, they're date stamped, who'd have thought ...) pair of the original, early "Dueling Elephant" aircleaners to complete the engine. They're called that because the long 'noses' of the first design pointed toward each other when mounted. When correctly positioned, the nose air intake is supposed to be at a slight downward angle to prevent rain from getting into the fuel system, but of course, many owners/shops/dealers got it wrong and engines were destroyed as a result. Porsche redesigned them after only a few months of production to point rearward and downward with no adjustment in the nose angle possible so no one could re-mount them incorrectly. Here's some pictures, the first one is what I got from the salvage yard (getting correct 6/65 dated cans was absolutely pure luck, but they were only made for a couple of months). The following three is what they look like now after Brian Daniels at Petaluma Auto Body disassembled everything and removed all the paint, dents and rust and rewelded a couple of torn seems, then masked off the original stickers and shot them with correct Wurth satin black in a pro-booth. He even disassembled the clips, bead blasted them and repainted the metal tabs with silver ... They're like pieces of jewelry now. These were called 'Silencers' by the factory because they made the engine run substantially more quiet than the minimalist 'Knecht' aircleaners offered at the time. An aside is, the original Mann filters are still available, one source left on the internet, for ..... wait for it .... $37 each plus shipping "What part of that sentence did you think was going to be cheap? 'Porsche' or 'Restoration'???

Veer12

Sound Good!!!!!!!!!

butzip

Looks heavenly in that light!!